Leila Whitley is a seventh-grade student at Milford Middle School.

How can equity be defined and illustrated? This year, 46 Granite Staters took on the challenge, created by the Racial Unity Team. Five Milford residents, from ages 5 to 71, submitted their best, and it paid off well for two of them. Milford Middle School seventh-grader Leila Whitley took a $200 second-place award for her 3D art, while Milford High School tenth-grader Madelyn Arseneau was awarded $100 for her third-place poetry submission.

In its fourth year, the Art and Poetry Challenge promotes the education and understanding of important and complicated themes surrounding racial unity and acceptance. Participants of the challenge submit poetry and artwork inspired by the assigned theme of the year that are later judged and awarded based on quality and comprehension.

The 2022 theme of “equity” was announced in January and submissions sent in April, with educational materials and parameters for the challenge provided. All art and poetry entries will take a one-year tour of New Hampshire libraries and will soon be available on the Racial Unity Team’s website, www.racialunityteam.com.